Many addicts discover in sobriety that the courage they exhibited in their disease was very different from the courage that they embraced in recovery. Addicts courageously daily discover new ways to manage their disease and the consequences and complications that result from it, using denial, escape, justification, manipulation, and external resources – whatever works at the time – to keep from dealing with the real pain of addiction and the underlying spiritual malady.

Facing the fact of one’s addiction and the reality of unmanageability in one’s life is a true act of courage. Admission of the problem is the first step to recovery and the most difficult step to take, requiring great courage. The Serenity Prayer, which newcomers hear at their first 12-Step meeting, addresses courage:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen

This prayer asks the addict to reverse the pattern of thinking and behavior, which, in managing the disease, has been “to change the things I cannot accept.” Whenever anything is unacceptable to us in our addiction, we attempt to control, manipulate, and change it. This is a pattern with people, places, and circumstances. It takes courage to pray the prayer. It requires courage to recognize what cannot be changed (and the realization that that means anything outside of me). Courage is necessary to take action and face and change what we can. And finally, it takes courage to seek discernment – to know what we can change and what we cannot.
Courage can only be found on the path of wisdom and it is only acquired through the steps of right action.